UKC

I admit it was unorthodox, but is it actually dangerous?

Indoor wall is 12m and has autobelays that share lines with lead-climbing clips.

I tie a 13m length of lead rope off to the autobelay, then let it retract. So now I have a full-height rope with a bit spare on the floor. I clip this through a screwgate on the ground anchor and tie in.

Now the autobelay is tugging me gently floorwards as I climb up, clipping as I go.

Autobelay leading; what's not to love?

In reply to JJL:
Love life.
You are shock loading a system designed for a slump load.

In reply to althesin:



^^^ this.

The auto belay isn't designed for what you are intending to subject it to. I wouldn't want to trust my life to that.

Also, it's quite possible the ground anchor might not be up to the job either-they're designed to provide a bit of extra 'weight' to your belayer-not hold the forces involved in a lead fall.

A nice bit of out of the box thinking by the OP, but probably not one you want to be progressing.

In reply to JJL:
When you get to the top, you have 12m of rope going from you through all the qd's down to the ground anchor. The auto belay then lowers you 1m, then your knot gets stuck in the ground anchor and you are buggered 11m off the floor.

I would love to see this! It would take me a long time to stop laughing enough to rescue you!

Edit, to get you to the floor, you would need to assume that there was 24m of rope in the autobelay, and also that your knot would go through all the qd's.

In reply to JJL:

I'd imagine the Z in the system would introduce a fair amount of shock to the clutch?

In reply to JJL:

Which way do you clip the first draw?

In reply to JJL:

Yup, terrible idea. Very witty though.

In reply to JJL:

Also a great workout for the arms when you try and pull through some slack and clip.

In reply to JJL:

this makes no sense, someone draw a diagram!

In reply to jsmcfarland:


It doesn't work as ablackett pointed out.

When you have lowered off from the lead there will be three wall-heights worth of rope/autobelay sling out:
1. From autobelay to ground anchor
2. From ground anchor to top clip
3. Back down from the top clip to the ground.

But there are only two wall-heights worth of rope in the proposed system.
1. The autobelay sling.
2. The wall-height length of lead rope out when the autobelay is allowed to retract.

If you wan't to assume the autobelay provides two of the three necessary wall lengths of sling you need to figure out how the big crab on the end of the autobelay sling to which your lead rope is tied gets through the ground anchor and all the QDs.

In reply to JJL:

Great idea!

When you reach the top, clip yourself into the chains. Then untie your knot, and drop the lead rope. The autobelay should then return to the top of the route. You can now reach over, re-clip directly to the autobelay, and jump off. Autobelay will lower you gently to the ground

In reply to JJL:

Ali the issue with rope length could be overcome by down climbing, unclipping qds as you go. But your still not going to get away with it, not what the device is designed and marketed for, wall owner/manager would get crucified if it went wrong (even if it was something not directly attributable mechanical failure). Would be some workout though, getting short roped at every clip.

In reply to JJL:

Sigh.
At least 3 people seem to imagine I might be remotely serious with this. I wasn't. It was a little reaction to the other thread on deliberate falls.

In reply to JJL:


It's probably a good way of simulating one of those bad gravity days we all have, I'd have thought?

In reply to JJL:

As long as you're not hands-off gri-gri catching near-decking lead falling practice at the Reach you should be fine :p

In reply to JJL:

A likely excuse. I think you're saying that to try and maintain some dignity after the shrewd minds of UKC spotted the flaws in your plan.

In reply to JJL:

I doesn't work. Once you reach the top clip the auto belay is fully extended. Leaving you stranded for the rest of the day and lots of school kids poking fun at you

In reply to JJL:

Get to the top with your anchor system, sling the chains that are there for leading, untie.
Auto belay retracts, untie your rope, clip/tie into the auto belay and lower off.

Not sure you'd be allowed to do this indoors, or quite why you'd want to go to the trouble.

In reply to althesin:



That depends wholely on the auto belay being used. If it's a head rush product then it should be fine.
Still, as has been pointed out above, the mechanics of the idea don't work.

In reply to mwr72:

Yes, I found the QUICKjump and FlightLine with 6M of freefall with RipCord. That equipment would be fine, I'm still a bit worried about JJL, I don't think he needs any encouragement.

In reply to althesin:
How about tying a 30cm tape around your wedding vegetables several times *and attaching to auto belay.

You could climb up and down routes with a great incentive not to fall off.

*using an approved knot.